NORTH-SOUTH CENTRE - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

Livestock systems research
in support of poor people
In developing countries, the demand for meat and milk will
more than double over the next two decades. Soon, the global
livestock sub-sector will contribute half of the total agricultural
products in value terms. The livestock sector employs
1.3 billion people (20% of the world population) and
creates livelihoods for one billion people (25% of the world’s
poor). The main drivers of the increased livestock production
are urbanisation, population growth and higher incomes
in developing countries. However, the livestock sector has
a large impact on the environment, causing or aggravating
problems of land degradation, climate change and water
pollution, as well as extensive water demand. Increasingly,
competition with wildlife for habitat and resources leads to
a loss of biodiversity.
The central research challenge related to livestock is to
enable resource-poor farmers to benefit from livestockkeeping
while reducing its negative impacts. The SDC cofunded
programme “Livestock systems research in support
of poor people” was set up to contribute to finding solutions
for these challenges. It focused on poverty alleviation and
on the sustainable management of natural resources. The
programme will come to an end in 2010.
The programme is structured along the thematic clusters
depicted at right. Although the current projects do not
cover all areas, this structure has allowed us to conduct
relevant research that is justified by (i) the demand as
derived from the challenges identified in each discipline,
and (ii) the impact that can be achieved. On the following
pages, each of the projects is presented with its own report.
The list at the bottom of each page shows to which cluster
the project belongs.
The annual internal review of the programme, the “Progress
Forum 2009”, aimed at demonstrating how access to results
could be established, and how relevance and ownership
could be ensured. Members of the project teams presented
an overview on the status of their research, focusing especially
on the added-value of the project for the programme
as a whole. Considering that the projects were all in their
final stage, it was also important to reflect on a possible extension
or follow-up of the programme.
Veterinary sciences
(external)
Human health
(external)
Animal sciences
Fodder resources and
feeding strategies
Animal
production and
health
Food science and
nutrition
Plant sciences
Livestock and
environment
The North-South Centre
contributes to improving
sustainable land use
and human well-being
through research
on livestock systems
Food quality and
public health
Agri-food and
agri-environmental
economics group
Environmental
sciences
Livestock-based
value chains and
policy analysis
Institute for
Environmental Decisions
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Research collaboration
Livestock systems research
Programme structure with thematic clusters